Yan Pei-Ming Golden Eagle, 2021

Having gained international recognition with his portraits and self-portraits, Yan Pei-Ming returns with Golden Eagle (2021) to one of his major motifs from the year 2013, when he painted several eagles, a falcon and a series of twelve doves alongside a group of canvases entitled L’autre Oiseau (The Other Bird). In the latter, he plays with viewers’ perceptions, making the subjects appear like birds from up close, but having them emerge as fighter aircrafts from a distance. The Shanghai-born artist, who considers himself a European painter, reconnects with the archetypes of centuries-old traditions of representation in his work, creating a tension between conventional forms and contemporary relevance. Yan finds a vast range of rhythm and movement within his distinctive monochrome palette, deploying apparently infinite gradations between black and white in each of Golden Eagle’s energetic brushstrokes.